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Charles told us these kinds
of phone call tend to come in 21
‘batches’ of two or three per
day, before going quiet for a week
or so. He says there’s no indication
that the call is a spoof until he picks
up the phone, and it is only because
he is savvy to the kinds of scams
taking place that he immediately
hangs up and blocks the number.
‘I did once continue a conver-
sation with a man who said I had a
problem with my computer, just to
see how they worked,’ he says. ‘I
didn’t follow any of the instructions of accessing the web address he gave me – I worked in IT
before I retired, so I knew I wouldn’t do anything which would allow him to take control of my
computer.’ Unfortunately, not everyone would have had this knowledge.
And whilst it’s possible to cut down calls by registering your number

Telephone Preference Service
with the Telephone Preference Service, this is designed to stop legiti-
mate companies calling you, not criminals.
Charles certainly isn’t alone. We ran a straw poll on Twitter asking our followers if any of
them had been the target of number spoofing, with 28% saying it had happened to them.
Read more: https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/10/whos-really-call-
ing-you-an-investigation-into-the-worrying-rise-of-number-spoofing/ -

Which?
How do the scammers do it? For the problem to have become so widespread, it’s fair to assume
that number spoofing has become the weapon of choice for lots of scammers around the world.
But how do they go about it, and why is has it become so popular? ‘A caller ID can be spoofed
easily, and for free, using software that is shared online,’ explains Ray Walsh, digital privacy ex-
pert at proprivacy.com.
‘Scammers start by finding the number they want to spoof, either online or via white pages.
‘Next, they enter that number into the software. Once the number is saved, any outbound call
that is made via the software will register on the recipient’s end as the spoofed number.’ As
we’ve seen, the chosen number could be someone
else’s landline number, your banks, or any other
company.
‘Using a recognised number massively in-
creases the chances that a scammer will be able to
engage with a victim, often using specially-written
scripts that are designed to trick people into saying
and doing things the spammer wants,’ says Ray.
‘Most often this leads to the victim parting with
sensitive personal information, be it payment details
in order to drain their bank funds, or amassing per-
sonal data that can be used in future phishing and
hacking attempts.’
‘Getting account login details is much more
common,’ says Sharif Gardner, head of training and advisory services at Axis Capital. ‘Depend-
ing on how sophisticated the scammer is, they might start off innocuously, and then build up in-
formation from you.’ In some cases, however, scammers won’t even want your login information;
just your voice can be enough. ‘Personal information has gone beyond your login details now,’